


Show Yourself

by AEpixie7



Series: Ineffable Bureaucracy [15]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Bee has some issues okay, But Gabe is trying to help, Cooking, Demon True Forms, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, The Himbo strikes again, Trust Issues, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21669001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AEpixie7/pseuds/AEpixie7
Summary: I set out to write a cute fluff fic of Bee teaching Gabe about cooking and music and it turned into some pretty serious emotional hurt/comfort featuring a demon Prince having a panic attack. Wut. I don't know, ok.
Relationships: Beelzebub/Gabriel (Good Omens)
Series: Ineffable Bureaucracy [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1437652
Comments: 28
Kudos: 143





	Show Yourself

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I saw Frozen II over the weekend and it inspired the title.

Beelzebub didn’t exactly want to interrupt Gabriel in the kitchen, the sight was far too endearing. She shouldn’t really enjoy things that could be described as “endearing,” being a demon, but given that it was a butt naked angel, wearing only a kitchen apron, swearing like a sailor and nearly burning a very old, historic castle to the ground, she figured it was alright. 

She adjusted Gabriel's turtleneck sweater where it hovered at her thighs, and slid quietly from her hiding place around the corner, snapping her fingers and extinguishing the flames on the stovetop. 

“When I complained that it wazzz cold in the castle, angel, I didn’t mean you should set the whole thing on fire…” she jabbed as she sauntered into the kitchen, startling Gabriel and making him spin back around to face her. His cheeks blossomed bright pink when he saw his own sweater adorning her tiny frame, his throat bobbing as his eyes drifted distractedly down her body. 

“Oh uh, hey, Bee. Did you get some rest? I tried…” 

She giggled at him and stood on her toes to place a quick kiss on his cheek, the gesture practically wiping his brain clear of rational thought so quickly that Beelzebub swore she could see the steam coming from his ears. She giggled again, hopping up onto the counter and swinging her feet as she watched Gabriel trying to recover his wits with increasing amusement. 

“I… uh… breakfast… you…” 

Beelzebub simply smiled and poked his thigh with her toe to grab his attention, though he still seemed dazed when his amethyst eyes met hers. 

“I know you _think_ you were trying to make breakfast, but I believe you may have stumbled upon a recipe for homemade Hellfire, judging from those scorch marks,” she teased, pointing to the stove and flustering her angel all over again. 

“Why didn’t you just miracle something?” she asked and he fidgeted, setting down the spatula that he had suddenly realized he was holding. He glanced at the stove, then at her, his mouth opening as if he might respond, and closing again. His eyes dropped to the ground, and he awkwardly placed a hand on the counter, his fingers tapping against it rapidly. Was he… _nervous?!_ She didn’t think she'd ever seen him quite so _awkward_. Was it the kiss? It must have been. Of course she'd never shown him such blatant affection before, so it was new, but she'd just been standing in the hallway a moment ago, wrestling with the horrifying realization that she was hopelessly in love with this doofus. So it had only seemed fitting. 

“I um…” Gabriel mumbled, a hand running through his hair as he stared at the burned stove, his voice reminiscent of a child being forced to fess up to a misdeed. “I just thought… I wanted to make it for you. Food seems to you as clothes are to me. It just um… it's more personal when it’s made special, instead of, you know, willing it into existence.” 

Now it was Beelzebub's turn to fluster, her cheeks feeling suddenly very warm. “Oh,” she mumbled, staring into her lap and fidgeting with the sleeves of his sweater. Dammit, she'd been trying to make fun of him, and now she couldn’t because he was too damn cute. 

“Well…” 

_Ugh. Gratitude._

“Thank you, angel. That was… very thoughtful…” she mumbled, glancing up at him when he remained silent, his smile nearly blinding her. She couldn’t help her little chuckle as she placed an open palm over his face and shoved him playfully away. 

“Gross. Dim your happiness a little, would you? You're going to make me gag,” she teased, jumping down from the counter and shoving past him, her fingers snapping and willing away the burned evidence of Gabriel's thoughtful but still utterly hilarious failure. 

“I appreciate the gesture, wank wingzzz, but I think I had better do this.” 

“But, I wanted to…” 

“I know, but I can show you how to do it this time, and then next time you can make me breakfast. Deal?” she asked, glancing back over at him in time to catch him snapping his eyes up from her exposed legs and biting his lip sheepishly. 

“Yeah. Yeah, sounds great, I can do that. Yeah…” he bumbled, and Beelzebub rolled her eyes, snatching the spatula off the counter and smacking his exposed rear with it. 

“If I’m going to cook, I will not stand listening to this rubbish,” she said, approaching the tablet and immediately silencing The Sound of Music with a flourish of her finger and a dramatically fake gagging motion. 

“Oh come on, I like that music…” Gabriel complained. 

“Have you ever _heard_ any other music?” 

Gabriel blinked and blushed again. His shoulders sank and he huffed out an insulted “no.” 

Beelzebub beamed, quickly navigating through the tablet's many apps and trying to settle on a favorite song she wouldn’t mind listening to while she showed the world's most incompetent angel how to make eggs. 

“Where did you even get a tablet, if you didn’t want to miracle the food?” she asked absently as she navigated to YouTube. 

“I've never seen one other than Michael's. I didn’t know how or where to miracle a tablet from so I um… borrowed hers.” 

Beelzebub froze, turning slowly as her grin widened. “You… miracled Michael'zzz tablet… that she uses for _official Heavenly business_ … into our kitchen so you could Google how to make an omelette?!” 

Gabriel forced an awkward smile that sent Beelzebub doubling over with giggles. 

“You great bloody _idiot_ that is the best thing I've heard all century. I might just keep it…” she teased, scooping up the tablet and cradling it in her arms like a baby. Gabriel's look of horror was almost more delicious than breakfast. 

“Oh hush, hummingbird, I'm not going to keep it. Might poke around those important filezzz of hers though,” she jabbed with a little wiggle of her eyebrows. Gabriel was clearly starting to grasp her sense of humor because he simply arched an eyebrow at her. 

“Fine,” she grumbled, setting the tablet back down on the counter and settling on the song she wanted. She grinned to herself and bit her lip, hitting the play button. “Now I'm going to show you a thing or two about good food, and great music.” 

The first few chords of guitar assaulted her ears in a way she hadn’t realized she missed. _Fuck_ the 80s had some of the best music. Not to mention Joan Jett was a bad bitch with a downright Hellish sense of style. 

Gabriel settled into a chair at the counter, completely enthralled with the way Beelzebub absently rocked her hips to the music, all the while cutting vegetables with her claws, throwing them into a pan with some oil, and whipping eggs in a bowl. Once she had everything together and sizzling in the pan, she threw all her restraint to the wind, singing the lyrics to “Bad Reputation” into her spatula and tossing her wild black hair around as she danced around the stove. Gabriel felt like his heart might explode from how hard it was pounding. He'd never seen her so _happy_. He completely forgot she was supposed to be teaching him how to cook—the sight of her dancing in his sweater and tossing that mop of hair around damn near discorporated him. 

“What? Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked, tossing a scrutinizing glance over her shoulder when the song came to an end (a look that was also somehow impossibly sexy), before flipping the omelette skillfully in the pan. 

“Uh, nothing. No reason,” Gabriel stuttered, feeling his face flush and his heart still hammering in his throat. Why were his palms sweaty?! “Watching you dance around in my sweater… I just, um… love…” 

“Ah!” she snapped, spinning to face him and pointing an egg-and-cheese laden spatula at him, a stern expression scrunching her eyebrows together. “Lizzzten mister. You said it once already today. I won’t forbid you from saying it, becauzzze I know you can’t help it. But… you get an allowance, and you are not to exceed that. Kapeesh?” she growled, frowning when her tone didn’t deter the angel in the slightest. He simply rested his chin in his palm and sighed, his eyes still adoring. She rolled her eyes and went back to furiously flipping her omelette. 

“Alright, that seems fair. So what's the allowance?” 

“How many timezz have you said it now?” 

“Twice, technically.” 

“Then two.” 

Gabriel merely chuckled at her, and she focused all her attention on the omelette in front of her, even though she heard Gabriel stand and approach behind her. Why the _fuck_ was she blushing?! 

Gabriel stood close behind her, both arms wrapping around her middle and pulling her close, his chin resting on top of her head as he sighed happily. “So… you're not mad at me? For… what I said? What I did… in the bedroom?” 

Beelzebub grabbed a plate and slid her omelette onto it, though Gabriel didn’t release his hold on her. “You mean making me endure seven… no… _eight_ orgasms so you could say _I love you_ and I wouldn’t be able to punch you in that pretty mouth for it?” 

Gabriel's arms huddled her closer and he kissed her hair. “Yeah that.” 

_Satan give me strength, I can't with this one._

She sighed and tossed her spatula down, digging deep for the annoyance she used to feel when Gabriel got all handsy and cuddly. Now she just enjoyed it and _eeewwwww. Gross._

“No I'm not mad, angel,” she mumbled grumpily, realizing that her body had started trembling again. _What is wrong with me?!_

Gabriel didn’t respond, simply brought a hand up to tip her chin back, his lips finding hers and _oh sweet Antichrist_ her knees nearly buckled. Something about that kiss was different. 

He looked down at her lovingly and patted her bum, grabbing her plate and a fork and heading for a little table tucked into a sunny alcove off the kitchen. “Come on and eat before it gets cold.” 

_As if I can freaking walk when you kiss me like that. Dick._

She followed him in a daze, and couldn’t find anything to say, her brain seemed to be filled with a distant buzzing, as if her flies had followed her to Earth. She ate quietly, feeling a very strange warmth flowing through all of her extremities as Gabriel watched her, his eyes darting away and his cheeks blushing every time she caught him staring. Beelzebub nearly choked on her last bite of eggs when Gabriel spread his wings and closed his eyes, contentedly soaking up the sunlight that warmed his feathers. He was practically _iridescent._

She hadn’t realized she had reached out to touch his feathers until his eyes snapped open, finding her hand stroking his wing affectionately. He smiled and his golden marks appeared on his shoulder, the first time she’d seen him intentionally reveal his true form (at least, when he wasn’t in the throes of a full body orgasm that made him lose control of his corporation). He watched her fingers stroke along the edge of a primary, his wing pushing up into her touch. His smile faded, before his hand reached for hers and held it. 

“Bee you’ve seen my true form. You've seen every part of me, and it feels… really good to be able to show it to you…” 

_Oh no. I know where you're going with this. Please don’t._

She slowly pulled her hand away, folding it in her lap and straightening rigidly in her chair, steeling her resolve against his puppy dog eyes. 

“You’ve seen my Seraphim wings. That’zzzz more than anyone who's still breathing has seen.” 

“Please Bee. I want to see you as you are. I know this isn’t what you look like in Hell. This is the face you wore at the airbase, I assume to keep from scaring the boy…” 

“No,” she said sternly, wishing he would just drop this nonsense. 

“Why not? You don’t have to hide from me, you know that, right?” 

“I am _not_ hiding.” 

“Why then? Why can’t I see you? You think it'll scare me like it would have scared Adam? I'm not a child.” 

Beelzebub stared down at her hands, trying desperately to conceal the fact that her chin had started quivering and her eyes stung. “No. I don’t think you will be afraid. I think you will be dizzzgusted. You will hate it,” she mumbled quietly. Gabriel crawled from his chair and knelt in front of her, scooping her hands up in his and kissing her knuckles. 

“Bee when I said ‘I love you,' I didn’t just mean _this_ version of you.” 

She couldn’t even find the effort to be angry that he'd surpassed his quota for the day, because she was entirely frozen, staring down at an angel who was essentially worshipping her. How could she deny him when he looked at her like that? 

She sniffed once, pulling her hands away and standing, backing away even as he reached for her. 

“No. If I am going to show you this, I want you to see all of it. And for the love of everything unholy, will you put some real clothezzzz on? I can’t do this if I'm giggling at that stupid apron,” she teased, a tiny grin sneaking its way onto her lips as Gabriel stood, glancing down with exasperation at his kitchen apron before miracling his track suit he usually wore when he went running. 

“Better?” he asked, holding his arms out and gesturing to himself, though the way the light shone through the windows and refracted off his gleaming white wings served only to make her more self conscious. As if he were a living, breathing reminder of what she wasn’t, and could never be. 

She didn’t answer his question, simply took a deep breath, locating that little cord in her mind that made up the bridge between her demonic soul and her idea of how she liked her corporation. A braid of conviction woven so tightly that not even discorporation could sever it. She felt a shudder course through her as she wrapped her mind around it and _yanked_. 

She kept her eyes closed for fear of seeing that look of disgust Gabriel wore when he saw something that offended his pristine angelic sensibilities. To see that look directed at _her?_ She didn’t think she could handle it. 

“Well you're right, I hate it, but not for the reason you might think,” Gabriel said quietly, and Beelzebub peeked her eyes open to find him standing immediately in front of her, his eyes stormy and troubled. She felt a moment of unhinged panic at his words, the feeling churning in her stomach as he brought his hand up, lifting her chin gently with his fingertips and examining her blistered face. 

“Are you… in pain?” he asked, and she felt the churning in her stomach increase slightly. 

“Yes. Alwayzzz. They are burnzzzz, Gabriel. And they never heal. If I try to heal them, they blister worse. But as I’ve said many timezzzz… this is the life of a demon. I learn to live with the pain and… ignore it. Overpower it with… other thingzzzz,” she mumbled, her buzzing seeming to overtake her speech with her increasing panic. 

“Well, that’s why I hate it. Anything that hurts my Prince, hurts me,” he said, his thumb venturing to trace the edge of a group of blisters. “May I?” he asked, his fingertip radiating with warm, healing energy. 

“You can try. But trust me… it will never heal.” 

He shook his head in defiance, smoothing his fingertip over her cheek, the blisters disappearing slowly. He blinked past the glow of his own healing energy, his heart stopping entirely when he realized that beneath the blisters was not unblemished skin, as he suspected. Instead, his touch revealed… 

Gold. 

He sucked in a breath and pulled his hand away, his eyes wide as the golden freckles that peppered her face immediately began to boil, the skin blistering and making her hiss. Her eyes watered against the pain, though clearly she was practiced at enduring such agony, the only evidence that she was struggling being that her claws had extended and dug into her own palms. 

“Your… your marks. The marks of an angel…” Gabriel said breathlessly, his hand brushing his own shoulder instinctively, a flash of something buried deep in his mind screaming that he once knew the way those marks framed sky blue eyes. “They’re… intact but they’re…” 

“Burning,” Beelzebub finished. 

Gabriel choked out a disbelieving breath, stepping forward once again to cup her cheek as his eyes watered. “That’s… _monstrous_ … why would She…” 

“Don’t!” Beelzebub practically shrieked, smacking his hand away and immediately concealing herself inside her porcelain corporation, unblemished once again. 

“Don’t you _dare_ quezzztion Her, you hear me?!” she cried, tears spilling down her cheeks as she stepped forward and held Gabriel's face between her hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “This izzz exactly what I wazzz afraid of! Why did She curse me to be burned by my own angelic marks for the rest of Eternity? Becauzzze I _earned_ it, that’zzzz why. I may not remember what I did to deserve my fall, but I was a Seraph,” she punctuated her statement by unfurling all six wings and spreading them out behind her, suffocating the sunlight that radiated from Gabriel's gossamer feathers. 

“I wazzz one of only four angels to guard the Almighty'zzz throne. I outranked Lucifer himself when we fell. I can only assume my betrayal was of the highest insult, so She cursed me to keep thezzze blue eyes and thezzze gold marks as a reminder that, of all the demonzzz, _I_ fell the farthest. You are a Seraph and arguably, Her favorite. Don't argue, you're a mama'zzz boy and everyone knowzzz it. You have just azzz far to fall as I did, and I _will not_ let it happen. You are _my angel_ , and if God or any other angelzzzzzz hear you talking like that…” 

She hadn’t realized her breathing had increased until it was too fast for even her voice to keep up. She was gasping, her entire body shaking uncontrollably as tears spilled from her eyes, her claws digging in to Gabriel's shoulders like an anchor. Her vision burned white and her knees buckled, Gabriel catching her and pulling her into a tight embrace, sinking to the ground with her and petting her hair as he rocked her gently. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, it's okay, Bee. Easy, I've got you, just breathe,” he cooed, holding her trembling body in his arms as his own tears smeared into her hair. “I am your angel. I'm also _Her_ angel. I faced my toughest trial during Armageddon, and maybe I got a few things wrong but… whatever plan God had for me… it led me here, to you, and I have probably more faith in Her now than I ever did.” 

Beelzebub didn’t even seem to hear him, her eyes were still wide with panic. “You can’t go back. Pleazzze don’t go back to Heaven, just stay here. We'll figure something out. I'll find out how the traitorzzz avoided their punishment, if I have to _beat it out of them…_ ” 

Gabriel forced out a plaintive laugh, cradling her in one arm as he wiped her tears away. “Bee you know I can’t do that. And as much as I'd love to see you pummel the shit out of those two, I don’t think we should be burning bridges when we don’t know if we'll need them yet. Besides, wasn’t it your idea that we should go back to work and pretend everything's normal? Become the hardest workers our bosses have ever seen? I've done that, and it’s been working…” 

“Yes, but that wazzz before…” 

_Before I realized I was in love with you, you great bloody knob._

Gabriel's eyes glimmered as if he understood exactly what she was thinking. He tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear and caressed along her jaw. 

“I understand, Bee. I do. For a while now it's felt as if I've let a piece of me walk into Hell exposed and vulnerable, every time you go back down there. Why do you think I gave you my dagger? Because if anything happened to you…” 

He sucked in a breath and swallowed hard, his chin quivering. He cleared his throat, mustering his resolve and banishing whatever had just bubbled up to the surface. 

“If I just stop showing up, that will raise more red flags than if we keep doing what we've been doing. It'll be okay, I’ve got angels that I trust.” 

Beelzebub shifted in his arms, sniffling and tugging the turtleneck of Gabriel’s sweater just a bit farther up her neck. “You can’t trust anyone, angel. Eventually, they’ll all stab you in the back.” 

“I think you've been in Hell so long you've forgotten what it's like to trust someone. Besides, didn’t we spar for this reason? In case anything ever happens, we'll be ready.” 

“No, we sparred because I get off on it,” Beelzebub teased. “And it won’t do any good if you're ever found out. It won’t be demonzzz you're fighting.” 

“Tell you what. How about I bring one of my angels here, to the castle, away from any prying eyes in Heaven. You bring a demon you trust, if there even _is_ such a thing. Maybe they can provide some insight, to make sure if we ever _do_ have to fight our way out of Heaven or Hell… we know what we're up against.” 

Beelzebub considered, wiping her nose on the sleeve of his sweater. Now _her_ sweater. 

“No. I don’t want to risk having an angel know about us, or this place. We can’t take that chance.” 

Gabriel fidgeted and blushed, his body suddenly stiff. “Uh… well… ahem. So here's the thing…” 

Beelzebub pushed a hand against his chest and glared at him. “Gabriel…” 

He smiled nervously, tapping his fingers where they rested against her upper arm. “Michael already knows.” 

Beelzebub stood suddenly, leaving a very cold vacancy in Gabriel's arms. He reached for her hand, which she pulled away before furiously pacing the kitchen, her Seraphim wings knocking eggs, vegetables, and cheese from the counters and sending them all crashing to the ground with an array of _cracks_ and _splats_. She didn’t seem to care or notice, because her face was steaming red as she clenched her fists. 

“How could you tell her? She'zzzzz the leader of God'zzzzz armiezzzzz, you don’t think she pozzzesses the authority to hurl you from the Heavenzzzzzz herself?! Of all the conniving, untrustworthy _bitchezzzzz…_ ” 

“Bee, calm down, you're buzzing.” 

“Tell me to calm down ever again and I'll bury your own dagger between your ribzzzz.” 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Gabriel said as he stood, holding his hands up in surrender and approaching her cautiously, as one does to a rabid dog. “I only meant… you know what your buzzing does to me and it would be a _really_ inopportune moment for me to get a boner, okay?” he said with a hopeful smile, stopping just short of touching her. She stopped and folded her arms over her chest, clearly aiming for indignant pouting and failing miserably. Her wings gave her away— they perked up noticeably and the down feathers near her shoulders puffed up like dark but fluffy storm clouds. She shook her head as her façade cracked and gave way to a smile and a blush. 

“Ha. See? I knew you couldn’t stay mad at me.” 

She shot him a look that said _don’t push it_. 

“And for your information, I did not _tell_ Michael, she figured it out. I believe we can trust her. I think she has much deeper connections with Hell than any of us realize. She and Ligur were very close. She won’t condemn us for… this.” 

Beelzebub tapped her bare foot against the floor and considered, before biting her lip and growling loudly, stalking away to busy herself with her plate that she'd left on the table. She reached for it, and before she could use it as an excuse to ignore Gabriel, she heard a snap of fingers and the dishes, stove, and the mess on the floor were all miracled clean. _Asshole._

“Fine,” she huffed as she spun to face him. “I’m bringing Dagon.” 

“I assumed you would. Next weekend?” 

“Fine.” 

“Fine.” 

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence in which both celestials wanted to hug the other but both were being too stubborn. 

“Bee was this our first fight?” 

“Shut up angel.” 

*** 

An hour later, both demon and angel stood on the roof of the castle, the cold wind whipping Gabriel's coat and scarf around as he looked skyward, rolling his shoulders and mentally preparing himself for another weeks worth of monotonous meetings and paperwork. He glanced down at Beelzebub, both her hands tucked into her pants pockets as she kicked the stone of the roof nervously. He got the feeling she didn’t want to end things as tensely as they'd left them in the kitchen but she would never admit that. He stepped forward and gently rubbed her upper arms, her eyes finally dragging up to meet his. 

“Hey. We're gonna be okay. You and me,” he said, and before she could respond he leaned down and kissed her, holding her arms as if she were about to float away any moment. He stepped back quickly, before he could doubt himself, and his clothes and hair began to crackle with static as the first tingle of lightning latched onto his being. 

“I love you,” he said, grinning from ear to ear when Beelzebub fumed. 

“That'zzzz _four_ today, you imbecile. Now go on, get out of here,” she said, waiting until she could see his hair standing on end from the targeted lightning. 

“I love you too, idiot.” 

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “What?! Bee you…” 

_~Crack~_

Beelzebub breathed in the burning smell of ozone that was left in the angel's wake, before tossing a nonchalant middle finger to the sky. 

“That’zzzz for making him fall in love with me, you omnipotent, infantile _twat._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> The very talented @oloreheri drew some art of dumbass Gabriel trying to cook and it is PRICELESS. [Check it out on Twitter!](https://twitter.com/Oloreheri/status/1288935648829865984?s=19)


End file.
